Education and Career Prospects

[Wheel]

After reading here and searching quite a few threads about education and how to enhance your career, I have a few questions regarding my specific situation and the solutions you've found to be successful.

I'm a new paramedic who is finishing up orientation and preparing for my first shift bid. My organization offers three types of shifts, and I'm stumped as to what to choose to maximize my earning potential and happiness both now and in the future.

Shift type 1: city 12 hour shift, days or nights. Right now during orientation we're doing 6-10 calls per shift at night. This shift rotates. Work M/T/F/S/Sun, then flips the next week

Shift type 2: 24/48 outlying shift. Hourly rate adjusted so they make the same as the people who work 12 hour shifts.

Shift type 3: 24/48 shift somewhat outside of the city, but still quite busy. This is paid the same hourly as the 12 hour shift, thus would be more money.

So my questions are:

1) which shift will allow me to further my educarion?
2) How did you complete your degree while working full time ems?
3) what did you decide to do with your degree and why?

I want to continue to learn, but am undecided when it comes to a degree in ems, nursing, or something else altogether. I've considered trying to find a fire job or going to nursing school, even getting involved with teaching ems or doing some emergency management. All sound appealing to me.

First I need to decide a shift that will allow me to pursue an education, then perhaps what to learn to make myself marketable, productive, and happy. Thanks in advance for taking the time to help me think through these things.

 

[atticrat]

Good that you want to continue to learn. I would recommend the shift with the highest volume of pt contacts as a starting point, 1-2 years. Spend that time becoming the best provider you can. Then after you have learned how to be a paramedic, change shifts/companys to an environment with less volume, more opportunity for education.

Personal opinion, you gotta' walk before you run. Nothing worse than a manager/supervisor with less experience than you. About as usefull as a concrete buoy.

 

[Sublime]

Wait so you have a mandatory 60 hours per week? On the 12 hour shift option you work 5 days a week or am I reading that wrong?

None of those are ideal shifts for furthering your education. Any shift that rotates days each week will make it difficult to attend a class that is scheduled for the same days each week. I've heard of some science classes that are on a "shift" schedule at the community college, but otherwise good luck with that.

A degree in EMS is relatively useless in terms of career advancement. I got my AAS degree in EMS because those classes were required for nursing also, so why not.

Really just spend some time in the field and decide what you want to do. If you haven't knocked out your core classes you should do those online while you decide. Personally I have decided the nursing route is for me due to the high pay, advancement opportunities, and flexibility. But that is all up to you.

 

[Wheel]

Thanks for the replies. My plan is to definitely get some good experience and take some classes at the same time. I agree with you about nursing school, and I'm leaning that way at the moment. I still have to take a couple of pre reqs for nursing but only a couple.

To answer your question about the 12 hour shifts, yes, you work 5 days one week, but the next week you only work wednesday and thursday. I feel like I could probably work the night shift and get good experience, and only take a class or two at a time.

 

[Thricenotrice]

Where are you working? If I may ask

 

[DrParasite]

first off, try to maximize your income. if you are working 60 hrs one week, that means you get 20 hours of OT right?

if you work 12 hour days, you typically work 13 days a month as full time (3/3/3/4 days a week in a month), give or take.

if you work 24/48, you are working 10 days a month. Having more days off typically allows for more flexibility. Also, if you are working hourly, you get more OT, and you get paid to sleep (so option 3 would be my choice), and you get your downtime.

it is my personal belief that everyone should work in an city, esp a :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty one. lots of patient contacts, lots of BS, lots of social services calls that aren't real medical emergencies, and lots of sick patients who are too poor to go to a doctor on a regular basis. it's something everyone should experience. But most people don't want to spend their entire careers there.

As for which is the best for school, the best answer is 12 hour night shifts. that way you can go to school during the day time. It's rough, but it can be done. I wouldn't do full time schooling, but a class or two shouldn't be too bad. I did the whole 12 hour days in a city on a rotation schedule, and i was doing switches every week so I could attend class. it was absolutely hell. the fact that i was working 36 hrs at my FT job, 24 at my part time job, and 24 in class every week contributed to it.

If you can do 24s and find another person to switch with on days when you have class, even better. but unless you can find a semi-reliable person to switch with, do a 12 hour shift where you can work, and schedule a few hours of sleep followed by a few hours of school in your off time.

 

[Aidey]

I'm going to lead with the obvious here. You are a brand new employee, are you sure you're going to have a choice? Shift bid at my company is done by seniority. Someone as low on the list as you would get stuck with whatever is left over.

 

[Wheel]

Where are you working? If I may ask

I'll pm you

first off, try to maximize your income. if you are working 60 hrs one week, that means you get 20 hours of OT right?

if you work 12 hour days, you typically work 13 days a month as full time (3/3/3/4 days a week in a month), give or take.

if you work 24/48, you are working 10 days a month. Having more days off typically allows for more flexibility. Also, if you are working hourly, you get more OT, and you get paid to sleep (so option 3 would be my choice), and you get your downtime.

it is my personal belief that everyone should work in an city, esp a :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty one. lots of patient contacts, lots of BS, lots of social services calls that aren't real medical emergencies, and lots of sick patients who are too poor to go to a doctor on a regular basis. it's something everyone should experience. But most people don't want to spend their entire careers there.

As for which is the best for school, the best answer is 12 hour night shifts. that way you can go to school during the day time. It's rough, but it can be done. I wouldn't do full time schooling, but a class or two shouldn't be too bad. I did the whole 12 hour days in a city on a rotation schedule, and i was doing switches every week so I could attend class. it was absolutely hell. the fact that i was working 36 hrs at my FT job, 24 at my part time job, and 24 in class every week contributed to it.

If you can do 24s and find another person to switch with on days when you have class, even better. but unless you can find a semi-reliable person to switch with, do a 12 hour shift where you can work, and schedule a few hours of sleep followed by a few hours of school in your off time.

This is the problem I'm having. I can work to maximize my earnings before I get married in four months, or try to balance work and school.

I'm going to lead with the obvious here. You are a brand new employee, are you sure you're going to have a choice? Shift bid at my company is done by seniority. Someone as low on the list as you would get stuck with whatever is left over.

This is how we work also. I certainly don't expect to be able to choose where I will work, but I still don't want to bid on shifts I wouldn't want if I won them. I will however take whatever I can get and be grateful for it in this economy.

 

[Aidey]

Was there anyone else hired after you, who is going to be done with their FTO time by the time shift bid happens?

 

[Wheel]

Was there anyone else hired after you, who is going to be done with their FTO time by the time shift bid happens?

I was hired into my class alone. There were supposed to be others, but they failed different parts of the hiring process and they went ahead with the class for whatever reason, so I will be last I'in line.

 

[Aidey]

Yeah...so I don't get why you are worrying about this. You are going to have exactly zero choice in the matter.

 

[Wheel]

Yeah...so I don't get why you are worrying about this. You are going to have exactly zero choice in the matter.

This is true. Thank you for coming out and saying it. My main objective was to have my ducks in a row when I go talk to scheduling. Thanks to everyone for the helpful replies.

 

[Aidey]

To answer your question about the 12 hour shifts, yes, y/uou work 5 days one week, but the next week you only work wednesday and thursday. I feel like I could probably work the night shift and get good experience, and only take a class or two at a time.

Just FYI you don't technically work 5 days a week with that schedule. You work 4/3. It is Mon/Tues/Fri/Sat and then Sun/Wed/Thurs. It feels like 5 days the first week, but for scheduling/pay period purposes Sunday is the new week.

This is true. Thank you for coming out and saying it. My main objective was to have my ducks in a row when I go talk to scheduling. Thanks to everyone for the helpful replies.

Sorry to burst your bubble. Most of us have been there. You just have to put your time in until you actually get some seniority and are able to have a choice in the matter.

 

[Wheel]

Just FYI you don't technically work 5 days a week with that schedule. You work 4/3. It is Mon/Tues/Fri/Sat and then Sun/Wed/Thurs. It feels like 5 days the first week, but for scheduling/pay period purposes Sunday is the new week.



Sorry to burst your bubble. Most of us have been there. You just have to put your time in until you actually get some seniority and are able to have a choice in the matter.

Yeah, I'm used to trying to explain my schedule to people whose week doesn't start on sunday.

No reason to apologize. I've been learning that what you need to hear and what you want to hear are often very different. It has been quite a humbling experience. I'm grateful that this site is full of experienced people committed to saying what has to be said to push boundaries and grow.

 

[DrParasite]

This is the problem I'm having. I can work to maximize my earnings before I get married in four months, or try to balance work and school.

honest answer? if you are looking to get educated in college, maximize your earnings now. make as much cash as you can, work as much OT as you can, finish your FTO time, and make as much money as you can. you are getting married in Marchish, work as much as you can to pay for the wedding and honeymoon. you don't want to start school in janurary and have to take a week or 3 off for the wedding/honeymoon (I know from experience). you also need to ensure you have enjoy vacation time to cover it all.

start looking at your course schedule for either July/Summer, Sept 2013 or Jan 2014 as the start dates (Jan 2014 only because you will have a year with the company and a better understanding of schedules and who you can switch days with for school).

Also keep in mind, some people won't care where they work. some might only want to work in the city, while others will only want the burbs. some want only nights, while some refuse to work nights. pick the times you want, worst case you don't get it. best case the shift you want no one else wants, but it works the best for you so you can get it.

 

[46Young]

I'd recommend not working option #2. Working more hours for the same pay is obviously undesireable. When I worked CCEMS, they had a 24/48, and also 12's that ran 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, three off. Both shifts were paid the same, but the 12 hour people worked less hours.

A 24/48 sucks because if you're busy, the first day off is spent recovering from no sleep, and the next day you're getting ready to go back for another 24. If you're held over for an additional 12-24 hours, it's basically a 36/36 or a 48/24 (depends on how often you get mandated to stay). The better departments will add "Kelly days" every so often to give you regular five day breaks.

The 24/48 and the 12 hour days are both ratating shift days, so you can forget about taking any classes that are not online asynchronous, unless you can get time off, bang in sick for the a.m. or do shift trades with co-workers. It's entirely possible that you could make this work for 90% of the nursing program, and then fail out due to absences because either you cannot get any more shift swaps (remember that you have to pay these people back), or due to mandatory holdovers. The company doesn't care that you're taking classes; filling their scheduling gaps is their highest priority. Remember that. Plenty of people have failed classes for these reasons.

Basically, if you're pursing any degree that requires traditional classes, you can forget about it. For example, nursing programs have many, many applicants, so they are not willing to cater to working professionals with rotating shifts. Welcome to EMS shift work!

If you decie that you want to do a nursing program, you're going to have to work at a place that does not have rotating shifts and can accomodate your work schedule. Typically this is IFT hospital based and private EMS. When I did medic school, I had an all night schedule - two 12 hour shifts in NYC 911 - Sun nite and Tues nite 1800-0600, and IFT 0900-0100. Day time school and clinicals was rough, but I had no other choice. Each shift was busy, so get used to being chronically tired with no possibility of ircadian rhythms..